Rental Property Investor · Dublin, Ireland · Member since 2019 · 36 posts · 2 votes
Hey Forum,
I’m looking to expand my network and meet some of the potential investors for the upcoming deals, any advice from you guys how to first find those people and second how to build connections with them so eventually they will become passive investors in the deals,
@Martynas Fedotovas you need to build a brand and become a go to expert in the area of the investments you’re looking to raise capital for. you need to build a thought leadership platform, have a professional credibility package about you and what you do, you could write a book or a special report about investing in the asset class you are looking at.
You can hold informational meetings with potential investors on a regular basis could be a breakfast lunch or dinner event or just a cocktail hour networking event.
Attend networking events with your target audience as well as charitable functions and community events. Country clubs are a great place to find investors as well.
@Martynas Fedotovas you need to build a brand and become a go to expert in the area of the investments you’re looking to raise capital for. you need to build a thought leadership platform, have a professional credibility package about you and what you do, you could write a book or a special report about investing in the asset class you are looking at.
You can hold informational meetings with potential investors on a regular basis could be a breakfast lunch or dinner event or just a cocktail hour networking event.
Attend networking events with your target audience as well as charitable functions and community events. Country clubs are a great place to find investors as well.
@Martynas Fedotovas In addition to the tips @Greg Dickerson shared, I would say start with your current network and seek introductions to folks who fit your target. Having educational information readily available will make the process easier.
@Martynas Fedotovas - Ask for referrals from friends, family and your current network. It can be tough and time consuming making brand new connections, many people may be willing to make referral, you just might have to ask for it.
Martynas, another good source is in addition to attending real estate events through something like meetup.com, you can also sponsor/host an event, you arrange an an event, arrange fro "experts" to speak, attorneys' CPA's etc and you perform the function of host.
@Martynas Fedotovas I had a piece of advice I was given early on. Go to REIAs but also where rich people are, like exotic car shows, boat shows, museum functions, golf tournaments etc. Talk people up, when they ask what you do for a living, tell them REI. Talk about deals you have made, if any, and ones you are looking at now. If they are receptive give them a card and, more importantly, get their info so you can follow up.
@David Danforth this is definitely on my mind, but I will need to relocate to a bigger city to reach more people, as where I live right now it could be a population of only 10,000 people.
This is fantastic advice, but honestly, my clients usually don't start looking for new Accredited Investors until they have tapped out their group of family and friends who aren't accredited. You will meet a lot of non-accredited investors at the events the others mentioned and you should not discount them. If you do Rule 506(b) offerings, you can include them.
There is a lot of talk on the internet about how having non-accredited investors increases your liability and makes your documents much harder, but in practice, those are non-issues and its the way most of our clients operate.
The best investors are the ones that invest with you. Accredited investors that you recently met are unlikely to invest with you until you have a track record; non-accredited investors seem to be more interested in investing with newer syndicators and people who already know you are more likely to invest with you right away.
So, my advice is meet everyone you can and tell them about your business, whether they are accredited or not. Take time to get to know them and what they want in an investment and then pick your exemption based on the qualifications of your investors.
@Martynas Fedotovas anytime. Keep in mind it's a low percentage play, dont get discouraged by the rejections. You just need one person to get interested. If your successful with the one person, it will open up their friends to you as well and it can snowball
@Kim Lisa Taylor that’s is very insightful, thanks you so much! How difficult or different is to do an offer to invest for non accredited investors comparing to accredited investors?
Thought leadership is a great way. I like to look at it as fishing vs. hunting. You want to be a fisherman. Provide something of value that will attract the investors to you and stay consistent with it. Meetups, blogs, podcast, book, etc are all good ideas.